Out of time : desire in atemporal cinema /

McGowan (Univ. of Vermont) discusses a series of inventively edited, narratively experimental films. The trend toward such work has been noteworthy since the mid 1990s, as evidenced by Pulp Fiction, Memento, 21 Grams, and Irreversible. The author provides examples from Hollywood and from France, Hong Kong, Mexico, and South Korea in this well-researched, surprisingly easy-to-read volume. Summoning psychoanalysis and Freud, Heidegger, and Deleuze, McGowan provides a mostly jargon-free analysis of "atemporal cinema," arguing that in these films characters enact a repetitive loss that is the key to their identities, rather than moving chronologically past a traumatic event. As the analysis proceeds, the author also discusses capitalism, nationalism, and gender identity, all related to desire, wholeness, and trauma. This is compelling reading but theory (if not jargon) is heavy enough to make it unsuitable at the introductory level. However, McGowan divides each chapter into sections that are well suited to consumption by more experienced readers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. R. P. Kinsman independent scholar